Penny had taken the rest of the night to calm down. She was still upset after a cup of tea and a bowl of her ice cream, both of which usually did the trick of making a bad day better, so she had decided to take a nice long soothing bubble bath, something she rarely did.

Sure, she had been a little upset at Carla's innuendos and Mary's questions, but what had upset her most was Jason's carless comment at the end. Was that why Linda was no longer in the study group?  She finally decided that couldn't be it, because if anyone had known how to handle any unwanted advances it had been Linda. At least to hear her tell it, she had been a master at the flirting game.

Penny was headed out of the bathroom in her new silk robe, after having pampered herself with lotion and a hot oil hair treatment, the robe was another of her little splurges. She had always wanted something nice and soft to wrap herself in after a bath, but before her job she had never had the chance or the money to buy something for herself.

She had just pulled out a fresh pair of underwear and a nightgown when she saw it out of the corner of her eye. Not believing what she was seeing, she froze and turned to look behind her, sitting on the middle of the rag rug next to her bed was a little white mouse with beady little eyes. They both stood there, frozen, staring at each other, and Penny felt a scream rising in her throat.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.  She had always promised that she would never be one of those women, who when they saw a mouse or a rat would scream, but then the little monster decided it had enough of their staring game and made a little squeaking noise. It had called reinforcements.

Appearing from under her bed came a little grey mouse who joined its friend in the staring game. It was two pairs of eyes against one and Penny had no chance of winning, sensing her increasing fright, the mice decided it was time to make their move and broke away from each other.  The white one headed straight for her while the grey one darted behind her and under her dresser.

The scream she had been trying to hold back let loose and she jumped on her bed. Her towel head turban barely stayed in place, but that was the least of her worries as the grey mouse slunk out from under the dresser. She got the distinct feeling that it was the ring leader. Her eyes darted around the room looking for the white one but she couldn't find it.

The door to her room flew open making her scream again, but when her eyes landed on Sam standing in the doorway with a fire poker, she realized he wasn't a threat, but the mice still were. "Shhhh!" Penny hushed him even though he wasn't saying a thing. "Listen."

Penny was unaware of the sight she made standing in the middle of the bed with her hair wrapped in a towel and her short blue robe hugging her curves. She was also unaware of the fact that Sam was standing in her doorway wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms which were riding low on his hips.

"Penny," he warned, not in the mood for games.

Just then she heard another squeak and she jumped causing her towel to fall off her head. "Did you hear them?"

"Hear who Penny!" Sam said sharply. His tone brought her back to the present and out of her fear, and she couldn't help the bright red that stole up her cheeks when she noticed that he was, standing bare chested, in her doorway.

"T-t-the mice."

"What mice Penny?" He lowered his fire poker looking around the floor of her room.

"There is a white one and a grey one, and they're stalking me."

"You realize you sound a little crazy, right?"

Her gaze dropped to his toes where it stuck. "Probably," she shut her mouth realizing that if she mentioned their planned attack she would sound even crazier, "but I really don't like mice."

"Most women don't." He sighed as he entered the room and dropped to his knees looking around. "I don't see any mice Penny."

She nodded not moving, she knew they were there and she knew they would be back. He stood in the middle of her room watching her, his expression hard. She still wouldn't meet his eyes but she could sense his displeasure.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you." She wanted him to leave suddenly aware of how little she was wearing, He didn't leave though, he just stood there watching her, but she was too scared to move.

"Are you going to stand there like that all night?" He sounded exasperated.

"No," she said, moving to the end of the bed but unable to risk putting her foot on the floor.

"You realize mice are good climbers right?" He crossed his arms and she watched the muscles flex, before her suddenly frightened gaze met his.

"No." She swallowed hard, but she wasn't sure if it was due to the muscle action or learning that the mice could climb.

"Why don't you sleep upstairs tonight?"

"O.K." She nodded, still unable to move. Just then she saw the white mouse dart across the floor, stopping behind Sam, as if laughing at her, before it moved back under the dresser. "There, under the dresser."

Sam walked over and dropped to his knees and she watched the muscles in his back ripple as he lowered himself down to look under the dresser.

"There's nothing there Penny." He stood up clearly disbelieving her, and she could tell he was starting to get a little mad because he was clenching and unclenching his jaw. 

Sighing he walked over to her presenting her with his back. "Come on, I don't want to stand here all night."

"W-w-what?"

"Hop on and I'll take you upstairs."

Penny looked at his naked back, she would have to wrap her arms around him and she wasn't wearing anything under her robe. "No, I'll be fine."

"Stop playing games Penny!" he said in a low growl.

He thought she was making it up, why would she make it up?

"Penny, now!"

She wouldn't sleep unless she went upstairs, and she knew as soon as he left the mice would come out of hiding. She slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders and then her legs around his waist. Her robe was short so there was no protection between her thighs and his waist, and the direct contact between the two made her heart rate accelerate and her hands shake. When he reached around and placed his hands under her naked thighs hiking her up she had to close her eyes.

He had to feel her heart as it was about to beat out of her chest since her chest was pressed against his back. She rested her chin on his shoulder and her cheek brushed his. She really thought she was going to die.

They were both silent until he reached the stairs. "You're not wearing anything under your robe are you?"

"No," she squeaked.

"I think I underestimated you Penny." His voice was full of steel. It was a tone she had never heard from him before. It reminded her so much of the tone that her father used that she froze.

She bit her lip to hold back a gasp when he hiked her up once more and started to climb the stairs. "Underestimated me? How?"

He was silent until he reached the top of the stairs and dropped her on a guest bed with little ceremony. He gave her a minute to adjust her robe before he turned around but when she looked up she caught him watching her in the mirror. She couldn't help the blush that stole up her cheeks, she wasn't sure how much he had seen.

"I heard you and your friends talking this afternoon. 'He's rich and handsome, good for you Penny', is that why you were so angry.  Were you worried about one the girls from your group making a move first, so you decided that you wanted to try before they could?" He looked cold and distant.

"I have to say it was convincing at first, but who is that afraid of a mouse? That with the fact that you're not wearing anything under your robe, it was all well planned Penny. Too bad it didn't work." His eyes were hard and he looked as if he hated her.

"I didn't even know you were home," she said softly, so softly she wasn't sure if he had heard her as he turned and walked out of the room, closing the door swiftly behind him.

Penny sat in the middle of the bed stunned and numb. The man she had just met was not the Sam she knew. Where had all that anger come from? The girls had been talking about him earlier but she hadn't said a word.  He had sounded just like her father so full of disapproval and distrust.

She had always thought Sam liked her, she couldn't help the tears that tracked down her face as she fell onto her side and rolled into a fetal position. This hurt much worse than anything her father had ever said to her.